Knits with hockey sticks

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I was inspired by some Canadiens mittens I saw on Ravelry, so here's my own version of them, with a Penguins twist. I'm sure you can use your own mitten pattern if you want... this is just a really basic one I have adapted and tend to use all the time.

Yarn: Any worsted weight. I used cheap acrylic from a craft store. Wool would be a LOT nicer though.Needles: Four No. 4 DPN'sGauge: approx. 5 stitches per inch (but I didn't really do a swatch to be sure...)

Cast on 36 stitches in black, 12 on each of three DPN's.Choose the ribbing of your choice (K1,P1; K2,P2; or my favorite, K2,P1) and knit 6 rows

Switch to white. Continue ribbing for two rowsSwitch to black. Continue ribbing for one rowSwitch to gold. Continue ribbing for three rowsSwitch to black. Continue ribbing for one rowSwitch to white. Continue ribbing for two rowsSwitch to black. Continue ribbing for four rowsKnit 7 roundsBegin thumb gusset increase:Left Mitten:Round one:needle 1 - k to 2 sts from end, m1, k2needle 2 - k1, m1, k to endneedle 3 - k acrossRound two and all even rounds:knit all stitches

Round thirteen:needle 1 - k to last five stitches, place on holderneedle 2 - place first five stitches on holder, k across remainingneedle 3 - k all stitches

At this point, I rearranged my stitches on the needles so the top of the hand was all on one needle. You will need to take 2-3 stitches from EACH of the other two needles to make it even. You will have 19 stitches on this needle, and 9 and 10 on each of the other needles.

Helpful hints:-For the first mitten, I broke the yarn between the cuff and palm stripes. After weaving in TOO MANY ENDS, I carried the yarn for the second mitten. It seemed to work great. Just make sure you catch each color every row or two!

-It is your choice if you want to knit the penguin or duplicate stitch it. I did the latter, but kind of wish I knit it with my ever-growing colorwork skills. Just remember you have to carry two colors behind the gold stripe all the way around the mitten.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Pocket gnomes are great fun, and easilymade with scrap yarn. Take them onvacations and other adventures, andphotograph them doing fun things! They areabout four inches tall.

Yarn: Any scraps of worsted weight yarn. You can make a baby gnome with fingering weight yarn and smaller needles using the same pattern. You will need at least two main colors for the hat, body and belt (you can use a different color for the belt), and a hair and face color. The eyes are done with a Sharpie… just fill in one stitch for each eye.

Needles: Four (4) double pointed needles. US #3 work great, but anything from a #2-#5 will work depending on the yarn type.

Instructions:Start the gnome from the top of his hat, working your way down.With hat color, cast on three stitches on one DPN, Knit one row.P1, Increase 1, P2Knit one rowP1, Increase 1, P3K1, Increase 1, K4Continue to increase one stitch per row until you have nine stitches. Divide stitches onto three needles. Work in the round, increasing one stitch per needle until each needle has 7 stitches (21 total). Change color to hair color.

At this point, stuff your gnome with the stuffing of your choice, or even more yarn scraps. Continue decreasing one stitch per needle each round until each needle has four stitches (12 total). Break yarn and thread through remaining stitches, pulling tight and tying off.

What will make your hockey player your own unique creation are the colors and striping patterns you use to personalize your toy to match that of your favorite team.It uses very little yarn, so scraps are perfect, but color choice was important to make my guy match the colors and uniform of the Edmonton Oilers.I found a small Oilers patch on Ebay for the final touch on his sweater, but each toy should be customized individually with different hair styles, colors and stripes on their socks and sweaters.